thank you for the links. It is interesting to know
that this spider is very common in the Mediterranean but the last decennia she
is moving up North. I am 39 years old and I can not remember seeing this spider
in the 70s, 80s or 90s. The first time I saw this spider was in my mothers
garden (border zone 6/zone 7) about five years ago. In my garden (zone
6) it first appeared about two years ago. But in my opinion it is a
beautiful newcomer and it is welcome in my garden. It makes me sad to read that
the female dies in the winter. But I hope there will be many baby spiders next
spring.